Workshop security, at the points it actually fails.

Keys are the weakest point in most workshops

A board of labelled keys within reach of a counter is common and it is the highest-value target on the premises, because it converts to vehicles rather than to tools.

The fixes are mundane: keys out of sight and out of reach, a lockable cabinet, a record of who took what and when, and not labelling them with registrations. Nothing there is expensive and all of it is skipped for convenience.

It matters more than it used to. Many modern vehicles can be driven away with a key alone and no further defeat required, so a key taken is effectively a vehicle taken, and the vehicle belongs to a customer rather than to you.

The van is the most exposed asset you own

A mobile fitting van holds a substantial value of equipment and it spends every night somewhere less secure than the workshop.

• Unload the high-value items overnight where you can, which is the only measure that reliably works.
• Deadlocks and anti-peel plates, since most van entries are quick physical attacks rather than clever ones.
• An alarm that is actually set, and a habit of setting it rather than an intention.
• Park to obstruct the doors, against a wall or another vehicle, which costs nothing.
• Do not advertise the contents on the van, since signage naming what you fit tells a thief what is inside.

The last one causes debate because signage is marketing. The compromise most operators land on is branding without an inventory: a name and a trade, not a list of equipment.

Customer vehicles are your liability, not theirs

Workshop security is not only about your own property. A vehicle in your care is your responsibility, and where it is left overnight is a decision rather than a circumstance.

Inside where possible, and where that is not possible, in a lit area covered by cameras with the keys secured separately. Vehicles left on the road outside with keys in the building are the arrangement that produces the most disputes, and often the one insurance conditions were written to prevent.

Photographing vehicles at handover is worth repeating here, because a security incident becomes a damage argument very quickly and the photographs are what settle it.

The gap between the policy and the practice

Most claim disputes here are not about missing workshop security, they are about security that was installed and then stopped being used.

An alarm not set, a camera that has been recording nothing for months, a shutter left up because the padlock is stiff, a key cabinet propped open during the day and forgotten at closing. Every one of those is a condition in the insurance policy, and a breach at the moment it matters.

A short closing checklist, done by whoever locks up, closes most of that gap. It is unglamorous and it is the difference between a claim paid and a claim declined.

Cameras that are worth having

A camera system bought on price usually produces footage that proves an incident happened and identifies nobody, which is the worst of both outcomes.

What decides whether footage is useful is resolution at the distance that matters and lighting at the time it matters, not the number of cameras. One camera covering the approach to the door, at head height rather than roof height, and capable of a recognisable face in the dark, is worth more than six wide shots of a yard.

Check that it is actually recording and that the retention period is long enough to cover a weekend and a bank holiday. Discovering that the storage filled up in four days is a common and entirely avoidable disappointment, and it is worth putting on the same closing checklist as the alarm.

Recording the tools you own

After a theft, the question is what was taken, and almost nobody can answer it properly under pressure.

An inventory with serial numbers, purchase dates and photographs takes an afternoon and it does three things: it supports a claim, it helps recovery if items are found, and it tells you honestly whether your sums insured still reflect what you own.

Marking tools identifiably is worth adding. It does not prevent theft and it makes disposal harder and identification possible, which is the realistic ambition.